


Death Island

by KitkatAndCocoa



Category: Unidentified Fandom
Genre: Anxiety, Everybody dies lol, Kapa is a wolf god, Kapa is an imaginary friend, Lexa develops mild PTSD oops, Lexa has some mental problems, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-14
Updated: 2020-07-14
Packaged: 2021-03-05 04:08:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,594
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25268122
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KitkatAndCocoa/pseuds/KitkatAndCocoa
Summary: Lexa's plane crashed into the ocean.She almost died.And she'll almost die many more times.
Relationships: n/a





	Death Island

The plane ride started out normal, just a flight from California to Japan. Either tourists leaving or returning home, or people going to an out-of-country job. But then things went sideways. Literally, as sudden winds battered at the plane, tearing off parts of one of the wings and sending it spiraling down, giving the passengers a sense of zero gravity until they were slammed into the seats, the walls, and the ceiling as they plummeted down towards the Pacific Ocean. One of the engines exploded as it tried to keep up the power, lighting its wing on fire, making it look from a distance like a meteor falling to Earth. As it hit the water, it cracked into three pieces, which began to sink, taking on water. The water soaked through the widening cracks in the hull, causing the water to pool at about ankle height, and it was rising. Or more accurately, the floor was sinking. 

Lexa felt her stomach drop, green eyes bugging out at the scene around her. People were screaming, wailing, shouting, it was so noisy. The cacophony of sound didn’t help the fact that the entire plane was wrecked and she couldn’t breathe water. She ripped her belt off, the mechanism locking up a couple times before she completely snapped the material. The window next to her had a hairline crack in it, and it was getting worse. The floor tipped, and Lexa slammed into the seat in front of her, almost knocking the breath from her lungs. Then she coughed, moving to the aisle where a family was screaming over a dead child, and ripped open the water logged hatch above her seat. Maybe she was stupid, but she needed something to keep with her.  _ Something _ . She yanked her small bag out, a backpack, actually, and noticed another fissure in the plane widening. A loud creaking sound echoed, and at the last second Lexa yanked open the side emergency door and pushed herself into the water, knowing she had just made it worse for everyone else. She was a good swimmer, learned everything by the time she turned ten. As she finally surfaced, hair in her face and bag weighing her down in her right hand she frantically treaded water, gasping for air and looking around for anything that could help. 

A few yards in front of her, she saw one of the torn and twisted wings slowly sinking into the water, the suction starting to pull her towards and down with it. The burning engine’s flames started to flicker as they came to the surface of the water, finally being put out. The sky above was a black veil, the storm clouds blocking the stars and the moon. She heard small splashes around as more people started to surface, heaving for breath. Lexa heard a deafening roar and a wave of heat, and when she instinctively looked over, the other wing had detonated on the other side of the cracked and torn hull of the plane, flaming debris flying up into the sky like a horrible parody of fireworks, the debris landing all around. A cry of pain came out as someone was hit by a piece, before frantic splashing, then silence, as they slipped underneath the waves to join the other sections of the plane. As she was starting to be pulled down after the sinking wing in front of her, a flash of lightning tore across the sky, illuminating an island in the distance. The thunder’s deafening roar then shattered the air. Lexa might be able to make it if she hurried, escaping the pull of the sinking wing. And she tried, swimming in a lopsided side crawl, since her bag was heavy with water, waves slapping her face and making her struggle even more. A piece of the burning debris that was thrown skyward splashed in front of her, sending steam and boiling water splashing towards her. Lexa yanked herself backwards, going underwater for a second, then resurfacing. She could see the island. She could make it if she didn’t give up. 

After almost a quarter hour of swimming, she felt sand shifting under her feet, her arms reaching the clumping sand at the lowest of their arc to propel her. Another lightning flash occured, showing the almost idyllic sand beach in front of her, with a jungle-like forest just past the hundred feet or so of sand. But she was exhausted by the swim and the terror, and she wouldn’t be able to make it to the jungle’s cover from the storm in her state. She emerged onto the sandy beach, the grains clinging to her soaked body, clothes and bags like a second skin, before she collapsed with exhaustion a few yards from shore, and darkness overtaking her.

Lexa opened her eyes, and the sun was shining, the sky orange from it’s rising from the horizon. She saw a man standing in the sand a few feet away from her, or more accurately, his sand-caked pants and shoe and foot, having most likely lost one in the crash. He didn’t seem to have noticed Lexa’s awakening. Wheezing, Lexa struggled to sit up, since she had crawled weakly on to the beach earlier. She panicked for a second, then spotted her bag, breathing again, and sitting up so she was on her knees, sand was all over her front, but she was too happy to see her bag. 

The man noticed her movement, looking over, his sand-crusted lumberjack-style beard and short hair hiding its true color. “Good, you’re alive,” he said, bending slightly and offering a hand to her to help her up. He seemed to be wearing a t-shirt, though he was so covered in sand that it could have been a tank-top or a sweater and you wouldn’t be able to tell. “I didn’t find any major injuries on your body when I came over, so you should be fine for now.” Lexa looked up at him with a jolt of surprise, as if she hadn’t noticed he was there.    
“O-oh, thanks?” She accepted his hand, and stood, keeping a firm fist around the handle of her bag. 

**Don’t trust him yet** **_._ ** Kapa muttered, the wolf’s baritone voice hissing through his sharp canines. From what Lexa could tell with a side glance was that Kapa was positioned next to her, his favorite spot was hanging over her shoulder with that big furry muzzle of his that sometimes turned see through.  _ I won’t. _

The man noticed her looking to the side, and followed her gaze, of course not seeing Kapa. “Did you see something?” he asked, shifting slightly as he tried to figure out what she was looking at over the sea, where they could still see the tips of one of the parts of the plane sticking out. “Was it the plane’s rudder?”

“Uh, yeah.” Lexa answered quickly, letting go of his hand quickly and trying to finger comb her hair. It was full of grainy nasty sand, and smelled like salt. Her deep chocolate locks were thick and long, but she knew if it got too damaged she would have to cut it off. 

**Ask his name, you're too quiet, he’s staring.** Kapa murmured, his wolfish wide glowing eyes changing to a shade of orange. Lexa had learned that each color meant a different emotion for the wolf, and orange meant caution. Kapa’s personality was a mix between protective, and sleepy. He always sounded quiet, whispering into Lexa’s ear with that super low voice of his. 

“What’s your name?” Lexa asked him, green eyes scanning his form, but not lingering. 

His build was fairly average, and as he started brushing off the sand, she saw he was wearing a polo-shirt underneath it, and his hair was a light brown. His dark brown eyes widened. “Oh, right. Sorry, I should have mentioned that before. I’m Corin. What’s your name?” he asked. He glanced over at the jungle. Lexa saw someone moving a distance away, covered in sand. Probably another survivor. 

“Lexa.” She resisted the urge to say,  _ and this is Kapa. _ Because that would probably get her burned or something for being one of the crazies. She shoved her backpack onto her shoulders. 

**Good save.** _ Thanks _ . 

“I’d say nice to meet you, but crashing into the ocean and barely making it to an island in the middle of nowhere isn’t really nice, so that kind of cancels it out,” he said, glancing behind him and seeing the person covered in sand. “Over here!” he called to them, before lowering his voice to continue talking to Lexa. “We should probably find each other and work together to try and get the best chance to last until help arrives,” he said with a smile that was mostly visible from his beard moving slightly. Lexa smiled back weakly, then nodded to the island itself, 

“I don’t know how much help I would be, but I know how to light a small fire, and...make a lean-to?” She offered, knowing being a college kid wasn’t very helpful besides her youth. 

**You know you’re smarter than that, why did you leave out everything else?** Kapa asked quietly, eyes blending into a green hue.  _ I shouldn’t trust him, right?  _ **Correct.** _ Then that’s why _ . Lexa sighed, “I’ll try my best.”

Corin’s smile widened enough that it was actually visible through his beard. “That’s good, I just got a waterproof lighter. You know more about survival than I do. But I’m sure we’ll find a way to survive.”

The third person covered in sand came over. “Any idea what’s in the jungle?” they asked. “I’ve seen half a dozen people go in there ever since we got here, but I haven’t seen any of them leave.”

Corin let out a little ‘huh’. “Strange, maybe they found something good in there,” he muttered, looking at the jungle. However Kapa let out a quiet rumble, 

**Bad idea, wait for the return of the people. Hazardous fauna is a possibility.** Lexa blinked, then said to Corin, 

“I think I’ll stay away from the jungle until I’ve gotten my bearings. If that’s okay.” 

“I think we should all gather up in a group before we go inside, there’s probably at least a few animals in there, and they might be dangerous,” Corin said, having at least a little common sense. “How about we circle around the island on the shore, so we can try to find everyone we can?” he suggested.

The other person, after brushing off their sand, nodded. They were an older man with very few gray hairs on his head. “Sounds good to me.” Lexa cleared her throat, “I’m gonna go to the water’s edge and try to get some of the sand out of my hair, if that’s alright, I just need to try.” She laughed nervously.  **Woman. You’re on an abandoned island, not a beauty pageant-** _ I need my dignity Kapa _ .  **Fiiine.** Kapa’s eyes were pink, so Lexa knew he was joking with her. 

“Okay, sounds good to me, we’ll just be going in that direction, so if you want to catch up to us afterwards, that’s the way to go. Though depending on how fast we’re walking, it might be faster to go the other way and pick up anyone we’ve missed. See you in a bit,” Corin said as he and the old man set off down the beach to look for others.

As they left, Lexa was able to breathe a little. She didn’t particularly like socializing with strangers, even though they were stranded together. Kapa let out a slow, deep chuckle. 

**You always hope to be stuck with some cute guy on an island and you get a lumberjack inste-**   
“Shut up Kapa.” Lexa snorted, walking towards the water, squatting down, and dipping her hair in the water. Most of the sand actually came out nicely, and she whipped it back up, smoothing it out and looking at her reflection in the water. 

**Pretty.** He murmured, soft but deeply.   
“Thanks.” Lexa smiled lightly, even though she didn’t believe the wolf. 

Corin walked about a third of the way around the island in five minutes, finding it was a decent-sized island. They found a few other survivors, but apparently most had gone into the jungle. No one could say whether or not anyone had left it, though. Corin found this a little worrying as he continued around it, getting to know the survivors and making the old man laugh with a few cheesy jokes.

Lexa walked a ways towards the jungle, just away from the water line, and sat down on a random log thing, opening her backpack. 

**Good thing the journal is in an airtight bag like I had told you to make sure of.** Kapa’s tone told Lexa that he was rubbing it in. 

“Yeah yeah shush you big puppy.” Lexa grumbled, shaking her head with a smile. She brought out the bag, and saw a piece of a photograph sticking out. Lexa’s heart stuttered a tad, but she breathed in, and put the bag back in her pack. 

About ten minutes later, Corin, leading a group of about a dozen others, came back around, and he smiled as he saw Lexa. “All right, found everyone we could. Should we go into the jungle, or just stay out here?” he turned to everyone, making it clear he was making it a vote. Lexa stood up, 

“I vote that we wait for that one group to come back out first.” She wasn’t sure of herself, but she was also a bit afraid of the jungle. Those places could get dark, thick, and  _ very  _ dangerous. They weren’t prepared for something like that. Or at least she wasn’t emotionally. 

Apparently most of the group thought that they were prepared for something like that, saying they should go into the jungle to find the other group. A few, like the old man, Corin, and a younger woman said they would stay here. “Please send someone to talk to us and tell us where the others are if you find them,” Corin said to them as they entered, sitting down on the log fairly close to Lexa. A pit was settling in Lexa’s gut at the amount of people who wanted to go into the jungle. 

**Don’t feel bad for them, they made the choice.** Lexa sighed, she supposed it might not be that bad, maybe they would come back soon. Maybe it would all be okay. 

About fifteen minutes later, Corin sighed. “Ugh, I don’t know why, but that jungle seems really foreboding and scary,” he said. He stood up. “We haven’t heard from anyone inside. S- No, we shouldn’t go inside,” he said quickly, sitting back down. “It’s not that big of a jungle, it’d take fifteen minutes to reach the other side of the jungle, even taking the brush into account. We haven’t even  _ heard _ anything from inside the place.” He looked nervously at Lexa. “What do you think is up with it?” he asked quietly.

**How nice, he’s asking you; the smartest one here.** _ Kapa hush.  _ Lexa smiled weakly, hoping to reassure them a little, 

“I don’t know for sure, obviously, but maybe there are traps in there from forgotten people, or animals that are really fast or deadly, like...large cats, or poison, or....” She trailed off, noticing their expressions. 

“You’re probably right,” Corin muttered, turning back to the jungle. He let out a shaky breath. “Despite the smile, that did not reassure me,” he said jokingly. The old man chuckled a little. 

“Well, just gotta stay out here then and wait for rescue, not like my old body could handle running around in a jungle.”

Lexa nodded to him, then sat down on the log. “Well, we can wait a little longer. What else did you see around the island anyway? Is there anything growing- besides the jungle?”

“There’s not really anything growing, but there’s a rocky outcropping. Might be a cave or something if you manage to squeeze through a crack there, but I don’t do well in dark, enclosed spaces, so I didn’t try it,” Corin responded with a shrug. “Just sand, pile of rocks, and the spooky jungle.”

“Right.” Lexa sighed, and plopped back down on the log. She would rather wait for a long while then risk her life going into the jungle. Waiting until the last second was her decision. 

**Just don’t make it too long. The jungle is dangerous, therefore you need strength to fight it.** _ I guess.  _

“Do you want to go check out the rocks, or just sit here and wait for something to happen?” he asked the group. The old man voted to stay here, and the woman voted to go check out the rocks. Corin looked at Lexa, as if she was the final person to make the decision.

**Find the rocks, but send the woman to explore them first.** _ Wow Kapa so kind.  _ Lexa nodded to the woman, “I’ll go check out the rocks.”

Corin stayed seated. “All right, I’ll stay with Mr. Edwin. We probably should at least stay in pairs,” he said. The woman stood up and went with Lexa towards the rocks.

“So, what’s your name?” she asked. “I’m Heather.”

“Lexa.” Lexa replied quickly, following next to the woman. 

“Do you want to be the one to go into the rocks, or me? Because something might be in there, and…” Heather shuddered, not continuing. Lexa put a hand on her shoulder,    
“I’m going to be honest, I don’t want to go in there, but if I see anything, or you squeeze out of there with something on your tail, I’ll help you.” 

“Got it,” she said, still looking nervous as they approached the rocky outcropping. Heather went down to where the water lapped at the rocks, showing where the rocks that had formed it had tumbled from somewhere, forming a fairly small gap. She peered inside. “Too dark to see anything.” She looked at Lexa. “If I scream and don’t come out in 5 seconds, just run off,” she said as she started to squeeze inside. 

Lexa gulped, then sat loosely on a nearby rock. “I’ll be here.” She called, voice shaking a little. 

After Heather entered the cave, Lexa could hear her shoes scuffing on the stone floor. The close walls made her breathing echo, seeming louder than it should have been, even audible to Lexa. The scuffling got a little louder, before it suddenly stopped, along with the sound of Heather’s breathing. The only sound was the water lapping on the rocks. Lexa paled, but before she could stand and go to help Heather, Kapa barked, 

**Sit down. Wait. Be ready to run.**

As Lexa waited, she didn’t hear a single sound coming from the cave, no matter how hard she tried to hear. Finally, at about fifteen minutes, Lexa decided to stand and flee, not quickly, but just at a jogging pace. 

**Don’t go in.** _ I know, but she was just there. Why can’t I-  _ **No.** Lexa sighed, bag feeling heavy on her shoulders as she fled away from a possible situation where she could save Heather. Maybe she had just fallen, or slipped, or got attacked by a giant spi- okay. Enough. Lexa bit her lip, whining, and running faster. 

Corin stood up as he saw Lexa running into view, and she saw his eyes widen with worry as he didn’t see Heather. “What happened?” he asked, moving towards her.

“She-” Lexa wheezed for breath, blinking at him, “She didn’t come out, not a sound, no scream, just dead silent. I didn’t want to go in, I’m sorry.” She looked quite grieved by abandoning Heather, but she wasn’t going to go in the death trap of a cave. 

Corin let out a shaky breath. “It’s okay, you might have died as well, if she died.” He tried to be a glass half full kind of person, but in this situation, the glass was completely shattered. “Frick, why did this have to happen? Why did they all have to die!?” He was starting to hyperventilate, his eyes wide with panic and confusion. “Why can’t they be saved!?” His legs started to shake. 

“I... Corin. Just... breathe okay? Maybe if we wait a day or two, they’ll come back. They have to.” Lexa didn’t want to go in the cave, didn’t want to go in the jungle. No way. She reached into her backpack pocket, pulling out a pretty, but tarnished, silver locket. “Here. You can have this, and give it back to me later.” 

**What are you doing?**

Corin looked at the silver locket, his breathing slowing as he clutched at it tightly, eyes becoming steadier. “W-why are you giving me this?” he asked nervously. “Please don’t do anything stupid, this sounds like you’re about to go into that place.” He reached out and wrapped his fingers gently around her arm. “Please don’t. I don’t want you to die.”

**Lexa don’t, you have to wait.** _ You know how much I hate waiting when people are dying.  _

“I won’t. My parents always made promises to me with this locket, and they kept them all.”  _ Except for one.  _ “So have faith in me.”

Corin suddenly wrapped his arms tightly around Lexa. “Okay, okay, you’ll… you’ll be back. I’ll see you in a while.” He released her and stepped away, looking like he was embarrassed at what he had just done. “Good luck.”

Lexa smiled at him like she wasn’t totally terrified, and waved, turning and walking back towards the rock formation. If she was going to risk her life, or die, she was going to go down fighting at the very least. So she grabbed a fairly sharp rock or two from the area, then fled from it, still listening for Heather. Hoping. 

**If you are doing this, make sure you are prepared.** _ Yup.  _ Lexa swallowed thickly, stepping up to the beginning of the jungle tree line. “I’m gonna die.”

The cave Heather had disappeared into was still as silent as the grave Lexa was certain it had become for her. As she walked up to the jungle, she expected to hear animal noises, birds, something. But it was still other than the tree branches shaking in the breeze. “Great.” Lexa let out a strained sigh, and took her first step into the jungle. 

If she was expecting to be immediately torn apart by some predator, she would be disappointed. It was just a normal, dense jungle, with vines hanging from towering trees, roots snaking over the ground, and more low-lying brush than you could shake a sharp rock at. She could see that, even though the light was okay for her now, it got much darker further on in the jungle. Lexa swallowed thickly again, trying to control her breathing. Her heart was beating a little faster than she would have liked. 

**Keep an eye out.** Kapa muttered, eyes shifting from Lexa to the area around them. His fur was a bit raised, his large body almost seeable instead of its usual see through fazed off look. As far as Lexa could see, nothing was moving other than the plants swaying in the breeze coming off of the ocean. There was a fallen tree in front of her, and she saw a somewhat flattened and cleared area, like a group of people had walked through it earlier. Probably from the 7 or so people who had gone in earlier after splitting from the group.

**Was there a scuffle around here? Check the ground a little more.** Kapa suggested, eyes glowing a distinct orange. Lexa let out a strained sigh, and crouched down, looking for anything specific. She saw a footprint that kind of dragged off into the side, ending in a sandal sitting at the edge of the somewhat-cleared path area. “Were they running?” Lexa muttered, green eyes shifting from the sandal, then at the path. “Should we follow the path?”

**No, keep outside of it. Just in case.** Kapa grumbled, hackles raised. “Right. Easy target if we’re in the main path?”  **Correct.**

Lexa shifted her bag on her shoulders, then peeled into the more dense side of the path, following where the sandal led. Hoping she wouldn’t die for being curious. Her foot bumped into something soft, and when she looked down, she saw a young man who was obviously dead. Markings around his neck suggested he had been strangled by either rope or vines, and covered in leaves and plant matter to hide his body. “OH oh god.” Lexa gasped, then closed her mouth, hunching down as she looked over at Kapa, who was staring at the body with red burning eyes, fur on end, and teeth bared.  **He is dead. Something killed him, it could have been his own people, but that’s unlikely.** Kapa sniffed the body, his long stretched out thin legs similar to a spider forming next to her and stepping next to the dead man, sniffing them.  **Track the scent?** Kapa suggested, and Lexa nodded stiffly. But there was barely any scent on the man, the plants covering him having overpowered any hint of the attacker. And there were no pushed or broken plants to suggest that the killer had moved through the brush. Lexa steeled herself and continued on, brushing aside branches and vines and leaves and plants, trying to have the least contact with them possible. Meanwhile, Kapa kept a stern lookout, ears perked up and rotating, nose up as he followed in his full smoky form. Kapa’s full form was fairly frightening, long strang legs that were thin, attached to his regular sized wolf body. Lexa however was not afraid. Suddenly her foot caught in a vine laying on the ground, and she found she couldn’t pull her foot free of it. She nearly stumbled and fell face-first into the ground. Lexa windmilled her arms frantically, crying, “Kapa!” The wolf couldn’t do anything, but barked with a worried whine. “Oh ohohoh god Jesus I should have gone to church.” Lexa was breathing hard, keeping her ears listening to her surroundings and eyes looking suddenly up. She didn’t want to be choked too. No way.  **You should run!** _ No, not yet.  _

Corin stared at the jungle, chewing on his lip. “Do you think she’s okay?” he asked the old man, who waved a hand dismissively.

“Go get her, I can sit here safely. Nothing’s come out of the jungle.” Corin nodded and entered the jungle, following the path made by the group.

Lexa felt the vine tighten around her leg, and finally heard movement above and below her. Some of the vines hanging from the trees started to slip, falling down towards Lexa. One landed on her shoulder heavily, and she found it had the same sticky sap on it that kept it stuck on her as the one wrapped around her leg. Lexa yanked herself, but couldn’t force her way out of it, so she pulled the first rock out of her side pocket, the pointy edge held like a dagger. She slammed it into the vine on her shoulder, trying to cut it. She sliced into it, but not fully, only burying the stone about halfway into the vine. It twitched a little at the cut, but didn’t slip off. 

“Lexa?” she heard a voice call out, but it was muffled by the flora between her and whoever was calling. It sounded familiar, but the distance and muffling made it difficult to tell who was calling for her. “No! Go back! Don’t come over here!” Lexa shouted, voice hurting from the sudden volume. Kapa’s eyes were sharp red mixed with a bit of orange as he watched her continuously try to stab the vine, having trouble yanking the stone out each time due to the stickiness. 

Corin jerked his head to the side as he heard it. He pulled out his lighter and walked over to the side of the path that Lexa had gone out of. He flinched as he saw the man’s body, trying not to throw up. “I’m sorry,” he muttered as he followed Lexa’s shout and the brush she had moved in her path.

Lexa felt the vine wrapped around her ankle tighten, and start to slowly try to pull her into the brush. She finally managed to cut the vine on her shoulder off, now just hanging from the branches innocently. The vine pulling on her made her lose her balance, falling forwards, and when she instinctively reached out for something to hold onto, her arm caught in another vine, sticking there. So she was mostly held up by the vine her arm was stuck in, but the vine was starting to slip down towards the ground, being pulled into the brush left foot first.

She thrashed frantically, letting out a cry, and tried to use her free hand to cut into the one now holding her other arm. She was already feeling tired, and didn’t understand. Vines weren’t alive like this, they didn’t attack people, it wasn’t real. It couldn’t be. “Kapa! What do you smell? What do you see? I need to find what’s actually doing this..I need to.” She was desperate, not wanting to die. She hacked away at the thick vine with her rock, the sticky substance starting to coat the tips of her fingers and up. The rock was too covered in the sticky sap, finally buried into the vine too far to be retrieved, and Lexa barely managed to pull her hand free of the vine and rock.

Corin came into the area she was in. He rushed over to her. 

“What the heck is happening? Did you get trapped here by someone?” he asked, grabbing her and trying to pull her free. He managed to get her arm free from the lowered vine, but couldn’t get it off of her ankle, which continued to slowly pull her into the brush.    
“Corin! Follow where the vine is going! Where is it pulling from!?” Lexa gasped, trying to stay calm. She tried to ignore the full body form of Kapa pacing back and forth, whining. 

Corin nodded, following the vine. It led to a pit of some sort, with what looked like water in it. Corin bent down and touched it, then his skin hissed as it started to be eaten away. He jerked his hand away. “I think it’s a pit of acid, or digestive fluid,” he said. He gasped, then grabbed the vine dragging Lexa, lighting his lighter and setting it to the vine. It caught quickly, burning Corin as the fire spread through the flammable sap. He pulled his hand away and dashed over to Lexa, managing to jerk her free a few moments before the flames reached her. His hand, covered in sap, stuck to her shirt by her stomach as he pulled her. “RUN!” he shouted as the jungle caught aflame.

“RUNNING-” Lexa screeched, bolting after him in a sprint that only a crazy person could manage, since there were a million things that could trip her. 

Corin was dragged behind her, barely able to keep up. Lexa nearly stumbled as her foot ran into another vine, but it wasn’t covered in the sticky sap, so she was only slowed a bit. Corin, however, was not as swift as Lexa, so he tumbled, his sticking hand to her stomach almost pulling her down. He quickly climbed to his feet. He was saying something, probably an apology, but the closing crackling flames, scorching the air and burning their lungs, covered up his voice. Lexa made a split decision, reaching out and yanking the collar of his shirt, making for the sand, hoping it wasn’t a mistake to save him. He was clumsy. 

They managed to reach the sand, half of the jungle on fire. The old man was laughing. “Having a little bonfire, are ya?” he asked. Then his smile faded. “What about the others?”

Corin shook his head slowly. “They’re…” he couldn’t say it.    
“Dead.” Lexa could say it. Kapa huffed out a sigh of relief, looking back at the flames. “At least a search party can see flames pretty well.” Lexa joked. The old man shook his head. 

“Such a shame. I’m sorry that this had to happen. What happened to them? How did they die?” he asked. He stood up, clutching at one of his legs. He looked over to one side of the beach, in the direction of the rocky outcropping Lexa and Heather had gone into.

“Vines, sticky stuff, and a pit with acidic substances.” Lexa shuddered, remembering the feeling of those heavy vine limbs curling around her ankle and arms. The old man raised an eyebrow. 

“So they was all killed by some hungry plants?” he asked incredulously. “That explains why it was so quiet. Plants are fairly quiet.” He sighed. “Must’ve been what happened to Heather.”

“Maybe… maybe there’s still hope for Heather?” Corin asked, a hint of hope in his voice. He tried to move towards the outcropping, pausing when he started pulling Lexa. He stopped and tried to pull his hand free, but the sap was extremely sticky. “Crud, no. Can’t pull myself free.” Lexa huffed, and pulled out her second sharp rock, cutting into her shirt fabric, leaving her shirt more like a raggedy crop top. “Don’t go back there. You want to die? Go ahead.” 

Corin gulped. “You’re right,” he said sadly. He perked up as he saw something on the horizon. “It’s a ship!” he exclaimed. It was indeed, a fairly large fishing boat coming towards them, having been drawn by the clouds of smoke rising from the island.

Lexa let out a breath of relief, and glanced over at Kapa, who was resting his head on her shoulder.  _ It’s going to be okay. Or at least I hope so.  _ **Yes.** The boat came to a stop before it was run aground on the too-shallow water. A Japanese man peered over the edge of the ship. He called out in Japanese, asking what they were doing and if they needed help.

The old man nodded and called back, saying a ride to Japan would be nice, in Japanese. He started walking slowly towards the boat. “C’mon, let’s get off this plant’s pot of soil,” he said as he started trudging into the shallow water.

Corin nodded, starting to move towards the boat. He glanced back at Lexa. “Are you coming?” he asked. Lexa hesitated, then after Corin was a ways in front of her, started walking. 

They trudged through the water, and the Japanese fishers on the boat helped them up into it. “We’ll help you to Japan,” the person who looked like the captain said in hesitant English. “You need help, we’re here to help you.”

The old man smiled and pat the captain on the shoulder. He thanked him in Japanese, before sitting down in the back of the ship as they turned away from the island, watching it burn.

Corin let out a sigh of relief, leaning against one of the boat’s sides. “It’s over, we’re safe now,” he muttered. However, Lexa didn’t feel like she was safe. She recognized that if there was carnivorous plants, who knew what else there was in the world that people didn’t know about. She leaned against the railing, but kept a firm hand on the metal, green eyes staring into the distance. The sun started to sink in the sky, and a fisherman walked up to her. “Want food?” he asked, offering a bowl of rice with vegetables and meat mixed in.

“Hai, arigatōgozaimasu.” Lexa replied, facing the man with a weak smile. Kapa sniffed the food, then mumbled,  **Not poisoned.** The man nodded with a smile, before going and offering a bowl to Corin, who accepted it with thanks. He looked at Lexa. 

“Could you please teach me a little bit of Japanese, so I can understand a bit of what people are saying?”

“Uh,” Lexa didn’t want to, she didn’t want to help him at all. She just wanted to get a break and breathe. 

“Okay, so that’s a no,” Corin said, eating his food slowly and enjoying it. The smoke rising from the jungle island had faded so it was barely visible as a tiny wisp of smoke rising in the distance.

A few days later, they pulled into port near a small town in the southern part of Japan. “Welcome to Herakura, my home town,” the captain said as he and the other fishermen anchored the ship to the dock. “You should be able to rest here for a while, people are friendly here.”

The old man smiled at the captain and thanked him, before walking off of the boat. It was very foggy, and the sun was starting to set, so he disappeared out of view before he even left the docks. Lexa breathed in deeply, then left the boat, walking down the little ramp and stepping onto the moist wood. Kapa mumbled something that Lexa didn’t catch. _Hm?_ **The old man. Doesn’t seem right. Don’t know.** Lexa shrugged. 

“Bye,” Corin said, waving goodbye, before he turned and continued his quiet conversation with the captain of the boat. In the distance, Lexa could make out a few lights from a house by the dock, where she could see the shadows of people moving inside. She could barely see a hundred feet with how the fog was, and the darkening sky didn’t help her visibility. This also did not help her now complete distrust of people and things in general. That plant was an eye opener for her, and she didn’t like this. 

As she entered the town, she found that unlike most sparsely populated towns, the buildings were all crammed together, the roads through them being barely wide enough for three people to walk across together. She heard footsteps, made echoey and muffled by the closeness of the buildings and the fog, coming towards her from down the street.

Kapa growled, but remained at Lexa’s side. Lexa on the other hand was not as calm, and whipped her head back, trying to see. She reached into her pocket, finding the sharp rock she had brought from the island. 

A small Japanese woman came around the corner. “Oh, good evening. Why are you out here when it’s so dark? Do you need some place to stay?”

“No, I’m fine.” Lexa replied quickly, turning and walking in the opposite direction. She was still riled up from the island. 

“Be safe!” the woman called after her, before going on with her night. As the night became darker, Lexa didn’t see anyone else on the street, but she could hear things moving inside the houses as people got ready for bed, and a few footsteps here and there on nearby streets. Lexa continued to wander, hoping to find an inn or hotel. She found a small inn an hour later. When she entered, it was a nice green carpet with blue walls. A bell above the door tinkled as she entered.

“Hello there. Would you like a room?” the man sitting at the counter asked after waking up a little, stirred by the bell ringing. 

“Yes please.” Lexa wondered if her American dollars would work with paying. 

“We don’t get many visitors here, so I apologize for the lack of choice in the rooms,” the man said. “There’s one on top that gives you a good view once the fog has disappeared about mid-morning, and there’s two others that are nice on the second floor. Which room would you like, ma’am?” he asked. Lexa felt like choosing a specific room mattered more than the man was making it seem.    
“Um, the one closest to an exit?” Lexa offered as a reply, nervous.

“Well, the ones on the second floor are the ones closest to the exit.” The man seemed surprised by her request. “So you want room 2? That will be about 4,300 Yen for one night, unless you are staying longer.”

“I only have American money, is that okay...or no?” Lexa bit her lip, hoping but at the same time unsure if it was better to be outside, or inside. 

“Oh, that is okay, don’t worry. That is about 40 American dollars for one night. Would you like breakfast to be included when you wake up?” he asked as he started opening a drawer and rummaging around in it. 

“That would be nice, yes.” she answered, and took out the money she had stored in an airtight bag. Before Kapa could rub it in again how good it was that they had done so, Lexa handed over forty dollars. 

The man handed her a key with a tag that said “2” on it as he took the money. “Have a good night. When would you like breakfast to come, and what would you like for breakfast?” he asked.

Lexa shrugged, “Whatever is easier to cook I guess. Thank you.” She took the key, and eyed it for a second, before breathing in deeply. 

“Room 2 is the first door on the left when you come up from the stairway. The next door on the left is the bathroom, if you need it. There is a shower as well in there.” The man lay back down in his chair and closed his eyes, trying to go back to sleep. Lexa followed his directions, finding the door and unlocking it. It was a fairly small room, with a low bed that had brown sheets, more of the green carpet, and blue walls, along with a darker blue ceiling. There was a small lamp on the drawer stand next to the bed, and a cabinet for storage in another corner. Lexa set her bag down and looked under the bed, checked the sheets for bed bugs, checked inside any containers, and drawers. Everything was clean and empty, minus a book sitting in the stand drawer. The book had a brown cover, and the title was either handwritten by someone who had terrible handwriting, and/or mixed up a few languages into one title, or it was written in a strange language she didn’t recognize. This put her on edge, because if she couldn’t read it, she didn’t trust it. She set it back in the drawer and closed it. Not today. She heard her phone buzz as someone texted her. It was from her college friend. 

_ Hey, are you okay? You said you’d be at my place late tonight before you got on the plane, but you’re not here yet. _

Lexa had almost forgotten. She texted back,  _ Yeah, sorry. My plane actually crashed into the ocean and I found an island to stay on for a bit. Long story, but I’m in Japan rn.  _

_ Oh s**t, can’t wait to hear the story. Where are you? I can come pick you up tomorrow if you want. _

_ That would be great, but I’m not too sure exactly where I am. Herakura I think.  _

It took a few minutes for her friend to respond.  _ Wow, that’s a small town. Not even a thousand people there. It’ll take me until noon to get there once I get ready. But I don’t trust myself to drive right now, so I’ll see you tomorrow. Let you know when I’m on my way. G’night, Lex. _

_ Night _ . Lexa texted back, then sighed. She laid down on the bed, but didn’t fall asleep until an hour later. Kapa muttering things here and there about the weird book in the drawer. 

She woke up the next morning to the door clicking open. This made Lexa jolt up, sharp rock actually still in her hand as she stared at the person. The man froze, almost causing the rice, fish, and soup he was carrying on a tray to fall over. “I apologize, ma’am,” he said, setting the tray down on the floor in front of the door. “I did not mean to startle you.” He closed the door quietly, and she could hear his muffled footsteps walk away down the stairs. Lexa sagged, “Jeez...” She muttered, shaking her head. “I must be more affected than I thought, huh Kapa?” The wolf was laying on the bed, and perked up.  **You are paranoid.** “Maybe.” Lexa sighed, sitting up and going to the food at the door. It was grilled fish sitting on top of a bowl of rice, with a bowl of miso soup sitting next to it. A few drops of the soup had spilled from the bowl from the man’s startled jolt, but otherwise it looked good. Lexa took it to the bed and ate there, humming in satisfaction at having real food. She had gone without a couple meals so far, so this was nice. 

About an hour later, she received a text from her friend.  _ Got ready, see you in four hours. Can you come to the northern part of town around noon so I can pick you up from there? _

_ Sure.  _ Lexa texted back quickly, hoping to get far away from all this stuff. The spooky town, the leftover memories from the crazy vine plant. 

_ On my way now, can’t wait to see you again! _ Her friend texted.

_ Same.  _ Lexa kept her replies short. She felt too tired. After a little bit of hesitation she cleaned herself up, getting all the old sand and crud off her, then pulled on new clothes. A new shirt, and some leggings. 

An hour later, when Lexa looked out the window, she saw that the early morning fog had faded away, making last night’s nervous and claustrophobic streets look snug and more friendly. Lexa wasn’t as sure, but decided to shrug it off. Then she noticed Kapa staring at the drawer again.  **Take the book with? “** What? I mean, I guess. It’s not ours though.”  **Mysterious.** “Okay then.” Lexa took it out, shoving it in her bag and leaving the room. 

The man was sitting at the desk still, reading a book. He looked up as Lexa came down the stairs. “Did you have a good night?” he asked. “Will you need to stay another night, or arrange for transportation from one of the other townspeople? Not many people come to and from Herakura. There is not even a bus.”

“I’m fine, thank you.” Lexa dismissed him, and walked out the front door. She scanned the area, then took out her phone, trying to figure out how to get to..the north side? The phone told her that she was currently facing south, and would have to go down a different street to get to the north side. Since it was a small town, Goggle Maps had not been kind enough to map the cramped roads out. “Nice.” Lexa said sarcastically, and started in a direction she assumed was north, since Kapa didn’t have anything to say. She heard screams, then a small child turned the corner, almost running into Lexa in her rush to go down the street. Lexa almost attacked the kid, but faltered, slowing the kid down,    
“Hey hey hey what’s going on kiddo?”

“Chase!” the kid said, brushing past her. A girl came running around the corner after the child.

“I’m going to get you!” she shouted. “Excuse me, ma’am,” she said as she went around Lexa.

In Lexa’s mind, it wasn’t her problem. So she just shook her head and walked in the direction she had been heading in the first place. After a lot of wrong turns, due to the twisting and tight nature of the roads, she managed to get to the north side of the town, overlooking green meadows of grass just as a small red car turned the corner, creeping up to her. It rattled to a stop, and a tanned woman with red hair jumped out with a huge smile on her face. “Lex!” she shouted as she ran up to her, her tank top and shorts showing her athletic body. “It’s great to see you again.” She barely stopped herself before she ran into Lexa. 

“Uh, hey. You have no idea how glad I am to see you right now,” Lexa breathed, hugging her. “Jenna.”

Jenna laughed, returning the hug. “I can’t believe you got into a plane crash. I’m so glad you’re okay. You can tell me all about it on the drive to Okayama.” 

“I can tell you a little bit of it, some parts are still...” Lexa made a face, eyes getting a far away glaze. Jenna nodded, understanding what she meant. She pulled away from the hug. 

“Now give me the backpack, and I’ll race you to the car,” she said, grasping the loop on the backpack so Lexa couldn’t escape with it. She stuck a tongue out and let Jenna take it, then bolted for the car, grinning. 

“Cheater!” she exclaimed, taking off after her. “You’re supposed to count to 3!” It was a very close match, since Jenna had always been the athletic one, and it seemed like her time in Japan had made her even more athletic. Lexa barely touched the car’s hood before Jenna. “I see you haven’t changed much,” Jenna whined jokingly as she got in the car, putting Lexa’s backpack in the back seat.

Lexa laughed a little, then got in, buckling up in the passenger seat. “Oh come on, you love the challenge.”

“It’s only a challenge because you’re a cheater. I remember when you spent ten minutes arguing that you hadn’t cheated in checkers, when you obviously  _ had _ .” Jenna turned the ignition, and the car coughed a little, not running. Jenna frowned. “Stupid piece of-” she muttered as she turned it again, and the car rattled to life. “I really need to get a new car,” she sighed as she turned around and started down the road. “So, tell me as much about the island as you can,” she requested. 

“Well, the plane hit the water and broke apart, a lot of people didn’t make it, but some did, and there was an island nearby, and...well, there was a jungle-” Lexa proceeded to spill everything, looking a bit more relaxed with her friend at her side. 

Jenna chewed on her lip as she heard it, and when they were on a large stretch of open, empty road, she reached over and squeezed Lexa’s hand. “That’s terrifying and weird as hell. I’m glad you made it. That old man sounds like he’s untrustworthy.”    
“I kinda have to agree.” Lexa sighed, then shook her head. “It’s over for now, but I have a bad feeling for some reason.”

“Well, it’s hopefully over with, and then you can just have a nice, boring life hanging out with me,” Jenna flashed a smile at Lexa as they drove the empty country roads. “Maybe you could finally get a decent schedule up so you can work out regularly, I know you’ve  _ always _ been jealous of my  _ beeg moosles _ ,” she joked.

Lexa rolled her eyes. 

After hours of driving along country roads, the engine shuddered, before letting out a final cough. The car drifted to a stop. “F***,” Jenna muttered, unbuckling herself and climbing out of the car. She checked the engine. “What the hell is wrong with you, you piece of crap?” She slammed the hood shut and went back to the open driver door. Then the car exploded.


End file.
